Just Another Mission
by Cuthalion97
Summary: A typical 'break in and blow up the base' mission. The paladins of Voltron separate into two teams to complete their mission. One team has to rescue the other. Oh, wait - does this sound familiar . . .? Somewhat shorter than my other stories thus far, and with perhaps a less original plot. Still, I trust it will be entertaining. :) Please review!
1. Chapter 1

Princess Allura stood at her command station, fingers flying as she swiped back and forth between nine different screens, pulling out various bits and pieces of data and dragging them onto a large screen.

Lance sat at his own station a little ways behind her, watching in exaggerated, open-mouthed awe. The other paladins were clustered behind him, waiting for Allura to speak.

"There," she said, a moment later. Her purple earrings swung as she tilted her head apologetically, "Unfortunately, this is all the information Coran and I were able to gather on such short notice."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Shiro told her.

Pidge leaned over the back of Lance's seat, trying to see better. "What's going on again? I wasn't here when we got the message."

"No, you were in the cryopod," Lance said, folding his arms. "Because _someone_ decided to take a shot in the leg. Dangerous, lot of blood loss . . ."

"Whatever, Lance," she replied, smacking the back of his head. "I'll pay more attention next time, okay? I mean, I didn't _ask_ to get hit or anything."

Lance's face indicated that he was about to make a smart reply, but Shiro gave him a firm look, and he subsided with only a faint grumble.

Completely ignoring the exchange, Allura made a few more selections onscreen. "While you were in cryosleep, Pidge, we received a message from an allied planet. One of their supply ships picked up signals that indicate the presence of a hidden enemy outpost."

Hunk scrunched up his face in confusion. "Yeah, but don't the Galra have outposts everywhere? Why is this one important?"

"We have reason to believe that it is not a typical outpost. Coran, would you give the briefing?"

"Certainly, princess," the advisor replied, hands clasped behind his back as he rocked back on his heels. "It appears that this particular Galra, a general named Tolvik, is overseeing –"

"Wait," frowned Shiro. "I – I think I remember that name."

Coran nodded. "He _was_ one of Zarkon's top men, so that makes sense. He also used to be Sendak's commander."

Lance leaned back, crossing his legs and shooting a glance in Shiro's direction. "In other words, he's probably a world-class jerk."

The advisor opened his mouth, but before he could ask what a 'jerk' was, Keith interrupted. "So – what is Tolvik doing on this outpost?"

Coran brought up a screen with the schematics of an outpost and pointed to a bright spot in the center. "From what we could gather, he's there to oversee the gathering and processing of quintessence."

"Okay, that's not good," said Pidge, folding her arms. "That means they have druids there."

Allura nodded. "I'm afraid so. It will be dangerous, but we simply can _not_ leave this base intact. The faster the Galra are able to process quintessence, the more they can gather. They could kidnap inhabitants from any of the planets in this sector and drain them of life."

Everyone remained silent for a moment, processing this information. The computer beeped, and Coran leaned over to view the screen. "We'll be in range of the base in less than one varga."

Shiro straightened. "All right, team, listen up. As Allura said, this will be a dangerous mission –" He gave a faint smirk. "Well, more dangerous than usual."

Lance stood up, grinning. "We're good at dangerous. What's the plan?"

The paladins gathered around the main computer hub, studying the schematic. Keith pointed at one side of the hologram. "Looks like the command bridge is more protected than usual."

Hunk peered at it. "Yeah . . . Does it matter, though? I mean, can't we just fly in and blow it up?"

"No!" exclaimed Allura. They turned to look at her, and she said, "They're harvesting quintessence. They'll have some sort of weapon or spell that allows them to do that. What if they use it on Voltron? Or one of the Lions?"

Keith shifted his weight as though he were already holding a sword. "Looks like we'll have to sneak in and blow things up from inside, then," he said, sounding almost pleased.

"We'll still need to fly in, though," said Shiro, one hand on his chin.

"We could take Green," said Pidge. "The cloaking ability should hold just long enough for us to land."

Lance shook his head. "What if something happens? What if she gets captured? We should have some kind of backup."

"If I may," said Coran, lifting a finger. He tapped Pidge's datapad. "It looks like their station is situated on a planet with natural satellites."

"Yes. . .?" said Shiro.

Hunk clenched his fists in excitement. "Oh! Oh, I get it! If we use one of them for cover and approach at the right angle –"

"Yes!" cried Pidge. "Hang on, I'll run the calculations."

"Ummm," said Lance, scratching his head. "Does anyone know what they're talking about?"

Hunk turned to the others. "Okay, so you know how a radar works, right?"

Shiro nodded. "Yes."

Pidge glanced up. "Hunk, we're all pilots – we _all_ know how a radar works."

"Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, we're gonna fly in, staying directly in line with the biggest moon, and use it, you know, sort of like a shield?" He brought up a model and showed them. "Once we're close enough, we can orbit the moon and then fly right in. At that point we'll be visible, of course, but Pidge can activate her cloak and it won't have to last as long."

"My thoughts exactly!" said Coran, giving his mustache an enthusiastic twist.

"Good idea," said Shiro. "But Lance is right about bringing backup. I don't want to risk getting cut off from our only escape."

"Red's the fastest," said Keith. "We could take her and Green."

Lance waved his arms around. "But you'll hurt Blue's feelings! She _wants_ to fight the Galra."

"Keith's right, Lance," said Pidge. "Besides, I'm sure the other lions will know if we need them. Coran, I've got our approach vector calculated. Could you double-check it for me?"

"Certainly, Number Five. Hold on a tick."

"Pidge," said Shiro, "is there any chance that you could install a cloaking device in Red before we get there?"

"If Hunk helps me," said Pidge. "But – uh, Keith, you'll have to get Red's permission. She didn't like it when I tried to scan her last time."

"Sure," said Keith.

As they left the bridge, Shiro turned to Lance and clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's figure out how to do this."

When Keith returned a few doboshes later, Lance and Shiro had put together a tentative strategy and were reviewing it with Coran.

"I'll take Pidge with me," Shiro said. "Lance and Hunk will go with Keith. We'll land on opposite sides of the base."

"We can't just stay in one group?" Keith asked, trying to keep the worried tone out of his voice.

Lance shook his head, looking, for once, as though he felt the same way as Keith. "The base can only be fully destroyed if we set charges in two different places." He pointed to the command center. "And Pidge has to get into the main consul to locate the other Galran quintessence bases."

"Right," said Shiro. "And she may need me to activate something." He held up his prosthetic arm.

"I could do that," argued Keith, before remembering that he couldn't – he had to pilot Red. "Or you could at least take Hunk or Lance with you."

Shiro seemed a little confused by his vehemence. "It'll be fine," he said. "Your team has the more dangerous mission already – you need three people."

"Please," said Lance, looking offended. "I'm worth two people as it is. And Keith isn't _completely_ useless."  
The red paladin opened his mouth to argue back, but realized in time that Lance was just trying to get Shiro to take Hunk along.

Coran hummed. "I wouldn't suggest that – your team has to break into the quintessence room, which will most likely be heavily guarded."

"So?" Keith replied. "I did it by myself last time, didn't I?"

In retrospect, that was the wrong thing to say. The black paladin stiffened, his forehead creasing, and Keith momentarily considered kicking himself. Shiro shook his head. "Yes, you got in by yourself. And almost died. Hunk's going with you."

He turned to the hologram with an air of finality. Lance frowned at Keith, who replied with a half-apologetic shrug.

As Shiro, Coran and Allura spoke about coordinating attacks, the two teenagers edged closer together, both eyeing the black paladin.

"I don't like it," said Lance.

Keith grunted. "You're not the only one."

Lance continued as though he hadn't heard him. "Seeing the Galra _droids_ still makes Shiro freeze up, sometimes. Druids –" He frowned again.

Keith folded his arms, his dark eyes growing darker.

Lance let out his breath with a huff.

As one, they glanced at each other, then at the schematics.

"We're landing closer to the base than they are," muttered Lance. "We could get in, set our charges, and . . ." He leaned forward, peering at the various lines and colored shapes that made up the hologram, and gestured vaguely, " . . . you know, get back to them – just in case."

Keith pointed. "That hallway. It leads to a room directly above the command center. We can get to it if we leave the quintessence room by the west corridor and make two left-hand turns – uh, and head up one elevator at the end of this one."

Lance nodded, his demeanor cheerful again. "Then you cut through the floor, we jump in – and we be awesome and keep everyone safe."

"Yeah . . . until we have to separate and head back to the lions again," Keith replied dubiously, pulling at his gloves. "I'm gonna get suited up and download a copy of this map."

Lance gave him a thumbs-up and headed for the door. "I'll do the same – we might need a backup."

"Wow," said Keith.

There was a long moment of silence. Lance looked around the bridge to see what had impressed Keith, then turned back to him. "Wow, what?"

"You're actually planning ahead," said Keith. He left the bridge to the sound of Lance's indignant spluttering.


	2. Chapter 2

When they entered Red's hangar a short while later, Hunk glanced up from where he stood behind Pidge. "Hey, guys," he said, wiping his almost-clean hands on a greasy rag and making them dirtier than before. Lance snatched the rag from him and pulled out a clean handkerchief.

"Seriously, Hunk," he said, handing it to him. "That is _so_ unhygienic."

"How'd it go?" Keith asked.

Pidge glanced up, adjusting her glasses. "Good. We've got a cloaking device installed – I'll have to do more work on it later because it was a rush job and the light-spectrum simulating emissions aren't exactly in sync with the–"

"As long as it works for this mission, we're good," Keith interrupted. She quirked her mouth in a half-smile and shut her laptop.  
"So, uh," said Hunk. "Shiro said I'm going with you guys . . ." He looked up at Red a little nervously.

"Relax," said Keith. "I'm not planning on any fancy flying." Hunk sighed with relief, and the red paladin couldn't help adding, "Unless I have to."

"Hey, maybe everything will go right for a change," Pidge said optimistically.

"Yeah – about that," Lance said, stepping forward. "Hunk, you've got the explosives, right?"

"Uh-huh." He held up a backpack before carefully slinging it over his armor.

"Great. Pidge, you got yours?"

"Shiro's carrying them," she said, checking over her computer supplies. "He'll be setting them while I download the data on their computer's mainframe."

Before Lance could say anything else, Shiro came in. "All set, Pidge? We'll be exiting the wormhole in a few minutes."

"Cloaking device is installed," she replied, shoving some kind of electronic device at him. "Here, hold that for a tick. I'll just grab my armor. . ."

She rushed out, and Shiro turned to the other three. "Coran downloaded the approach vector to your lion. Once you land, get to the quintessence room and set the explosives. Allura will detonate them remotely once we're all safely out. Be careful, guys."

"Gotcha," grinned Lance. "Bet we can set our explosives before you do."

"No taking unnecessary risks," said Shiro sternly. "These explosives have to be set properly. We have one shot at it."

They nodded dutifully, and he gave a slight grin. "But I've had a _lot_ more experience with explosives than you anyway, so. . . you won't win that bet."

"Hey!"

"Don't count on it, Shiro," Keith added, straight-faced. "I'm the one who set that distraction for the Garrison guards, remember."

"Guess that makes us even, then." He left for Green's hangar, giving them a jaunty wave, just as Coran's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"All right, paladins, in your lions! We just exited the wormhole and the base is coming up!"

"We are so totally going to set our explosives first," Lance called over his shoulder as they entered Red.

Hunk shrugged, not really concerned, and took his position behind Keith, who ran a practiced eye over the data read-outs on the screens before him.

"Ready?" he asked, quickly figuring out the controls for the cloaking device.

"As ready as I'll ever be with you flying," Lance said, almost automatically.

Keith smirked. "You were a cargo pilot for a reason."

"Oh, yeah? Well, at least I didn't drop out!"

"I didn't drop out, I was kicked out. And either way, you're stuck with me flying, so –"

Shiro's voice sounded over the comms. "Guys, stop! Concentrate on the mission." There was a brief pause, and he sighed. "You were getting along just fine a few minutes ago, on the bridge."

Lance narrowed his eyes and said, in a light tone, "Things have changed since then. Are you sure I can't take Blue?"

This time, Pidge and Hunk sighed as well. Shiro didn't bother to answer.

Coran spoke again. "We'll be in position in sixty ticks. All ready?"

"Ready," said Keith.

"Same here," Pidge added. "Let's go blow stuff up!" 

The descent to the small planet went smoothly. Keith landed without so much as a bounce, and the three paladins headed for the base, Red's particle barrier activating behind them.

Shiro's voice crackled through their comms. "We're on the ground."

"So are we," Keith replied, hiding behind an outcropping of rocks. Hunk's bayard was out and formed, and Keith spared him a quick glance. How he managed to lug that huge thing around during every mission was beyond him.

Lance knelt beside the other two, peering at the base through his sniper scope. "I don't see any guards. . . But it looks like they have an electric fence of some kind," he said. "You seeing this, Shiro?"

"Yeah. I think we can fly over it. Just be careful. And everyone, shut off your comms until we're inside. They might be monitoring radio signals."

The others murmured affirmatives and clicked off their comm links. Lance turned off the lower half of his face guard and muttered, "You guys go ahead. I'll cover you."

Keith went first, leaping into the air and activating his jetpack. He cleared the top of the fence with a few feet to spare, then landed in a crouch and darted to the corner of the building. He leaned his head ever so slightly to the right, glancing around to the front entrance. No guards.

Keith shifted uneasily and summoned his bayard before waving Hunk over to join him. No guards meant that either the Galra were extremely confident; they had no droids available; or that this was a trap.

It was probably the latter. Except – how could it be? There was no way the Galra had picked up their lions, not with those cloaks.  
"Hey," he whispered to Hunk. "Any way these guys could know we were coming?"

The yellow paladin pulled up a display on his wrist panel. "Nah, don't worry; if they picked up anything, it would be the castle."

"Did they pick up –?"

Lance dashed over and slid to a halt on Keith's other side. "Okay, where are the droids?"

Keith waited for him to finish, then said, "Did they pick up our biosignatures?"

"Maybe." Hunk pressed a few buttons. "But they'd have seen only three – or maybe five – lifeforms approaching. There's no way they wouldn't have sent droids out by now." A new display popped up, and he read it rapidly, his eyes darting from side to side. "No droid signatures anywhere inside."

An uneasy feeling churned in Keith's stomach, and he forced it down. "Let's set those charges," he muttered.

The three of them stepped back a little before jet-packing onto the flat grey roof. It looked pretty standard, as outposts went. No indication that there might be a quintessence-processing factory here. No indication of druids . . .

Lance pointed to a spot near the center of the roof. "Cutting through here should get us into the elevator hallway."

Keith's sword cut easily through the roof, slicing out a large circle. He gripped the edges of the hole for a moment, lowering himself in as quietly as possible. The other two followed. The tiny hallway was empty.

"This way to the elevator," whispered Lance.

The silence was uncanny. There wasn't even the faintest hum of electricity, and Keith found himself getting more and more jumpy. He took a deep breath and held it for several seconds to calm himself. The last thing he needed on a mission this dangerous was a case of nerves, but . . . it was so quiet.

Hunk glanced over his shoulder and tripped on his own feet, making a faint clunking sound. The other two spun to face him.

"Sorry," he mouthed.

The elevator, according to Lance's map, ran about thirty feet underground before reaching the quintessence-room. Glancing at the control panel, he noticed that the elevator itself was currently in the quintessence room. Maybe they should risk climbing down the shaft instead of running it . . .

He tapped Keith's shoulder and pantomimed climbing. Keith looked around the empty walls and cocked his head in confusion. Lance pointed to the elevator, pantomimed climbing, pointed to the controls, and grimaced spectacularly in an effort to convey his idea.

Against all odds, it finally worked. Keith held up his right hand, forming a circle with his thumb and forefinger, and carefully pried the doors open with his sword. Hunk held them open while Keith leaned in, grabbed the main cable, and climbed down it, hand over hand. Lance followed, and then Hunk eased past the doors and jumped for the cable, allowing them to slide shut behind him.

There was a tense moment or two while Keith sliced his way through the shaft wall, but once again, nothing greeted them on the other side. This hallway, however, was not silent like the upper one had been. Faint thumping and clanking came from machinery a short distance away, interspersed with an odd sparking noise that Keith recognized with a shudder. The druids, with their odd, electricity-like magic, were converting the pure quintessence to a form useable for their own means.

"Down this hall and turn left into a really big hallway," whispered Lance. "The room's at the end of it." He lifted his gun. "I'll check it out."

Without waiting for an answer, he ran quietly down the hall and lifted his gun, once again peering through his scope. Almost immediately, he hunched his shoulders, then came running back.

"Two druids in there," he muttered.

Keith activated his shield "I'll distract them. You guys –"

Hunk pulled off the backpack. "You're fastest at setting these," he replied in a low voice, handing them to Keith. "We'll cover you."  
"We've gotta set them without being seen," said Lance, a look of real concern on his face now. He opened the pack and handed two charges each to Keith and Hunk. "We can plant two of them outside the room, at either end of the hall."

Keith considered for only a moment. He knew Lance was right; guns would be more useful against the druids, what with that annoying habit they had of teleporting. And he was better at maneuvering and dodging, so – "Hunk! Do it."

"Ten-four!" Hunk replied in a low voice, giving them a tight grin.

Keith fastened one charge to his belt for easier carrying. He was just about to follow Lance when Pidge's voice came through his helmet, heavily interspersed with static.

"Guys! . . . coma . . . ter had a whole lot . . . roids . . . iro . . . ne. . .ackup. . ."

"Pidge, I can't hear you!" hissed Keith. "What's wrong?"

"Druids!" yelled Hunk, dashing back around the corner and almost flattening Lance, who stared at Keith, worried lines etched in his face as he tried to make out Pidge's voice.

Hunk sprinted towards them. "They saw me, guys!"

"Pidge!" shouted Lance, throwing caution to the wind. "Pidge, what's going on? Where are you?"

But she wasn't talking to them anymore. Over the sound of laser fire, they heard her give an enraged shriek, and then – static.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith ground his teeth and whipped out his bayard, clipping the second charge to his belt, where it would be out of the way. He sprinted over to Hunk and Lance, both of whom jumped out from cover and fired at the druids at the same time. Unfortunately, they both chose the same target. That particular druid fell back dead, riddled with laser burns, but the second one vanished.

Instinctively, Keith spun on his heel, facing away from the other two; sure enough, with a sudden blur, the druid appeared, weird eyes glowing. Keith slashed and the druid vanished, reappeared, vanished, reappeared – and sent a purple bolt of energy at him.  
Keith threw himself into a roll and found himself beside Hunk as Lance charged the druid. Hunk, without needing to be asked, grabbed the charge from Keith's belt and rushed back into the quintessence room with it, leaving Keith free to join Lance.

The druid stood motionless, then cocked its head to one side and rushed at Keith, a trail of black fog following after. He lifted his sword, prepared to meet him head-on, but just then Shiro's voice came over the comms, shockingly clear after Pidge's blurred transmission.

"Guys, I need your help! They've got Pidge!"

Keith hesitated, and Lance whipped his gun into position, firing shot after shot at the Druid, which suddenly vanished and did not reappear. Keith barely noticed.

"Shiro, where are you?"

"I – agh! - upper levels, outside the command center . . ." His voice was overwhelmed by a flurry of shots before it cut back in: ". . . roomful of deactivated droids – Tolvik . . ."

A burst of static filled the comms, and the three paladins winced. Shiro's tone grew desperate as he shouted – something. They couldn't pick out all the words, but it sounded suspiciously as though he said ". . . _get Pidge and get out_. . .!"

His voice broke off with a gasp, and the comms cut out entirely. Lance, Hunk and Keith stood there for a moment, concentrating on listening, as though they could somehow _will_ Shiro to keep speaking. When nothing happened, Hunk put his bayard away and turned to the others, expression uncharacteristically grim.

"Okay, guys. What do we do?"

Keith headed for the elevator, opening the frequency to the castle as he moved. "Coran. The charges in the quintessence room are set, but we lost contact with Shiro and Pidge. We're going after them."

"We're coming in," Allura said decisively. "We'll provide a distraction while you rescue –"

Coran interrupted. "Negative, princess! A particle barrier just appeared around the base!"

There was a brief pause, and then Allura spoke again, rage and helplessness making her voice quaver a little. "Paladins, you'll have to disable that from your end before we can help. I can't fire on it with you inside."

"The lions can't fly out, either," Coran reminded them, his accent more pronounced than usual. Lance could almost see his orange mustache bristling with frustration.

"Uh," said Hunk, peering at his wrist display. "Coran, they just launched a bunch of fighters, and they're headed right for you."  
"We'll handle them," said Allura. "You find the others and get _out_."

Lance pounded the control button for the elevator. "Let's get to the command center," he muttered, tightening his grip on his gun.  
Keith said nothing, but gave a curt nod. The elevator traveled silently up to the top level of the base, and the doors slid noiselessly apart.

A purple laser spat by and scorched the wall between Hunk's and Lance's shoulders. Six droids stood outside, their weapons raised and firing. Keith slammed the door button before they could open all the way, and as they slid closed again, Lance took out two droids with neatly placed headshots.

Metallic fists pounded against the door. Keith signalled to the others, hit the door control again, and stood in the elevator's entrance. The droids stepped back, lifting their guns, but Keith slipped through the widening crack and drove his sword through the torso of one, then ripped it out and sliced off another's head.

By this time, Hunk and Lance had joined the fray. Lance shot one of the remaining two droids, and Hunk lifted his gun and smashed the last one, nearly driving its head through its body armor.

"Okay, let's go," Keith said, sprinting for the command center, the other two hot on his heels.

As they neared the door, they skidded to a halt, and Hunk quickly hooked up his armor's interface with the one near the doors. Keith crouched, ready to lunge into the room and rescue Shiro and Pidge.

The door opened to reveal . . . nothing. No droids, no Galran commanders, no Druids – and no prisoners.

"What the cheese?" Lance muttered, stepping inside.

Hunk hesitated for a moment, then ran across the room to the camera screens and glanced quickly over them. Keith just stood there, alarms going off in his head. Commander Tolvik . . . He'd never even seen him, but somehow, at this moment, the thought of him was scarier than any number of druids. What if he'd recognized Shiro? What if he decided to send him to Zarkon? _What if Shiro had already been sent from the base?  
_  
Almost as though he could guess Keith's rather panicked thoughts, Lance spoke in a low voice. "We'll find 'em, don't worry."

"Uh – guys?" said Hunk. They joined him, peering over his shoulders at the tiny screen – Keith was forced to stand on tiptoe to see at all.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he groaned.

"The _quintessence_ room?" yelped Lance. "But we just left there!"

"They must have gone the other way," Hunk said obviously.

Although the screen was small, the two missing paladins were clearly visible, standing side by side, hands cuffed in front of them. Keith frowned even more. It was too obvious – they'd been situated directly in front of the camera . . . like some sort of message was being sent.

No point in wasting time, either way. Keith turned on his heel without a word and strode from the room, heading back to the elevator. Lance and Hunk fell in step on either side of him, and they all sped up until they were sprinting.

Halfway there, a voice suddenly boomed through the hallway, causing them all to jump violently and spin around. It took them half a second to realize that the voice was coming through the comm system.  
Keith hated the unknown person's voice before it had spoken even two syllables. It was smooth and – cultured? – but the tone was arrogant and completely spiteful. He sounded more evil, somehow, than Sendak ever had.

"Greetings, paladins of Voltron," he said. "I am General Tolvik, of the Galran Empire. If you want to see your friends alive, you will turn yourselves over immediately." He chuckled. "And do hurry – I wish to send a message to Emperor Zarkon as soon as possible. I will meet you in the quintessence room."

There was an audible click as whoever was speaking turned off the microphone, and Keith turned to the others. Hunk wore a deep frown, and Lance's face had gone crooked.

"What kind of a moron –?" he began, but Keith interrupted, grabbing at his arm and hauling him forward.

"He said he'd meet us there," he said in a rush as they dove into the elevator again. "Means he's not there yet – maybe we can still rescue them."


	4. Chapter 4

Shiro stood motionless and compliant, seemingly uninterested in his surroundings, but his eyes darted in every direction, absorbing details and filing them away for later use. Several droids patrolled the room, clanking along in their typical brainless manner. Three druids stood at a consul behind him; judging by the sound, one of them was processing quintessence. Pidge stood beside him, her small wrists held together by cuffs, and she was trembling.

He cast her a worried glance, and she met his look with blazing eyes. Shiro was secretly relieved to note that she was shaking with rage and not with fear.

"Hang in there," he muttered. "I got a message off to the others before –"

A sharp pain exploded in his shoulder, and he grunted, staggering forward as the druid ceased his magical attack.

"Silence."

Pidge glared at the druid's back for a moment, as though willing him to explode in flames, then turned back to Shiro. She caught his gaze, looked at his Galran arm, then gestured to his wrists with her bound hands.

Shiro shook his head. He'd tried using his prosthetic to burn through cuffs before, but the druids had put some sort of magical protection on them; all he accomplished by attempting to burn through them was to shock himself.

Pidge shrugged and set to work studying her own cuffs.

A voice echoed through the comms systems just then. "Greetings, paladins of Voltron," it said, in what could only be described as a smug tone. "I am General Tolvik, of the Galran Empire. If you want to see your friends alive, you will turn yourselves over immediately." He gave a low laugh. "And do hurry – I wish to send a message to Emperor Zarkon as soon as possible. I will meet you in the quintessence room."

"Why, those quiznaking jerks!" hissed Pidge. She let out a sharp yell as one of the druids sent a spell at her, and Shiro spun around and started towards him threateningly.

"Stay where you are," the druid ordered, and he forced himself back to his previous position, then edged quietly towards Pidge, who was breathing hard and blinking back tears.

Two druids glided across the room and took up positions on either side of the open door. The prisoners tensed, already knowing what was going to happen.

In the hallway outside, a red-armored figure slipped towards the doorway, sword at the ready. Lance was right behind him, a sort of grim determination in his movements. Shiro hesitated a moment, but when Pidge opened her mouth to yell he shoved her to one side and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Guys, it's a trap, get out _now!_ "

Something struck him in the side of the head and his vision blurred momentarily. When he looked up again, it was to see Lance struggling on the ground, a droid's hands wrapped around his throat. Keith lunged at the nearest druid, and Hunk rushed into the room and used his gun like a club to bash the droid strangling Lance.

The droid dealt with, they turned to face the druid attacking Keith. Shiro had the vague realization that, in safer circumstances, he would be congratulating the paladins for their flawless teamwork. It seemed that all it took for them to work together well was a life-and-death situation. . .

Great.

All this flashed through his head in less than a second, and then he burst into action, spinning on his heel and bringing his bound hands down in a sharp movement that disarmed the droid before him. Pidge flung herself against it in a sideways tackle, and Shiro flipped the gun expertly and fired it.

He kept firing at the druids, despite his current lack of control over the gun, and Pidge ripped a wire from the downed droid and set to work on her cuffs.

"Finish them!" bellowed a new voice. Shiro turned, intent on taking out this new threat to his team, and froze.

A huge Galra rushed into the room, clasped his hands, and slammed them down on Keith's right shoulder. The red paladin crumpled painfully, his bayard flying to one side. Hunk gave a furious yell and brought his gun up, already firing, but one of the druids caught him in a stasis spell, freezing him where he stood.

Lance leapt to one side, avoiding a bolt of purple electricity, but he was surrounded. Shiro's numb fingers had dropped the gun, so he did the only thing he could. He leapt forward, flinging himself in front of Lance as another spell arced through the air.

A rushing sound filled his ears when the bolt hit him, and the various noises around him sounded muted . . . underwater. He felt strangely nerveless for two seconds – and then on fire.

"Aaaagh!"

He dropped to the ground as everything around him went still.

 _The crowd in the arena went still as Shiro lay panting on the ground. His alien opponent was coming in for the kill, he had to get up, but – that last shock had hurt so much – maybe it would be easier to just lie here and wait . . . The crowd burst into ecstatic screams, and he glanced up. His opponent's sword hovered over his head. Instinct took over, and he struggled to his feet, activating his arm again._

 _Another shock._

"Shiro, stop!"

 _Wait, why was Keith here? The shocks continued . . . Why? What was attacking him? There was nothing –_

"Shiro!"

 _Pidge?_

"SHIRO!"

Shiro came back to himself with a jerk. He was on his feet in a defensive position, his arm glowing purple. The cuffs around his wrist sparked.

He deactivated his arm, then glanced around, breathing rapidly. Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge were gazing at him with obvious concern, completely ignoring the Galran general, who watched them with interest.

Shiro drew in a slow breath. He knew better than to show weakness in front of his captors, but he couldn't help casting a quick look at the others to make sure they were all right.

"Well, well, well," the general sneered, pointed teeth bared in a predatory smile. "Look who it is. I haven't seen you in some time . . . Champion."

Lance jerked against his captor with a growl. "His name is _Shiro_ , you purple-faced, wingless excuse of a bat."

Pidge smirked; Hunk gave a scared laugh; Keith shot Lance a congratulatory look. Shiro could only hold his breath and wait for the inevitable.

But . . . it never came.

Instead, General Tolvik stepped forward and pressed a button on the control consul.

"Inform Emperor Zarkon that I have the five paladins of Voltron in my custody," he said, and turned back to Lance. "You have a great deal of spirit, young one. You will do well in the arena."

His yellow eyes observed them for a moment. "You all will. But first –" He motioned, and a druid prodded Pidge forward, then grabbed Keith's arm and jerked him to stand beside her.

Tolvik continued. "You two will pilot your lions to my ship," he said.

They exchanged a glance and then, as one, shot stubborn looks at him. "We won't," said Pidge.

Tolvik smiled patiently and tapped long claws against his armor. "You _will_ , one way or another. You may as well spare yourself the trouble."

At his signal, a druid drifted over and placed his long hand on Pidge's shoulder. Keith struck it away. The druid hissed.

"I am in no mood to waste time," said Tolvik, his voice taking on a dangerous tone. "Pilot your lions to my ship or suffer the consequences."

Keith tilted his head back, staring the general in the face, and smirked.

The druid moved away from Pidge and stood directly behind Keith, a purple sphere growing in his hand. Shiro tensed.

"Last warning," said Tolvik.

Keith may or may not have told him to go to a very hot place – Shiro didn't quite hear. At any rate, Tolvik seemed to lose patience, although his expression remained calm and almost bored. He grabbed Keith by the throat and lifted him into the air, crushing him against the wall.

Lance jumped forward and performed a sideways kick, landing hard against the back of Tolvik's knee. The general stumbled, dropping Keith, turned, and backhanded Lance, knocking him sprawling.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Shiro, rushing over and striking at Tolvik. The alien gazed at him almost curiously, then caught his bound hands and jerked them up until his weight hung from his arms.

His teammates' gasps came through his comms as Shiro gritted his teeth against the pull in his shoulders.


	5. Chapter 5

Tolvik gave a disdainful sniff. "I fail to see how you survived the arena as long as you did," he said, sounding honestly surprised. "Or perhaps –" He gave the others a calculating look. "Perhaps, _Champion_ , you have been weakened by dealing with these . . . children."

"Hey!" said Lance indignantly, despite the fact that a Druid had him by the arms. "We're not – children . . .?" His voice faded away and he tilted his head towards Pidge.

She snorted. "Don't look at me. Besides, brain counts for more than _brawn_ anyway." Her eyes raked scornfully over Tolvik's hulking form.

Tolvik dropped Shiro and growled at Pidge. "Pilot your lion for me, little one, or I'll make the blue paladin pay."

"Can't pay," snipped Lance. "I don't have any money."

Keith, one hand pressed against his throat, staggered to his feet. His laugh quickly turned into a cough. Hunk shot him a worried look, but didn't dare move towards him – the druids hovered uncomfortably near.  
Pidge shook her head. "I'm not doing _anything_ for you."

The druid behind Tolvik raised his hand and sent out a burst of purple lightning that enveloped Lance for several seconds before releasing him. Hunk and Pidge shouted furiously for the druid to stop. Shiro just stood there, wincing in sympathy, and Keith glared.

The blue paladin swallowed his own yell and lay on his side, gasping. Moving slowly, he pressed his lips together, looked up at Tolvik –

– and _smiled_.

"That the best you've got, general?"

" _Lance_ ," hissed Shiro, trying to edge in front of him.

Hunk got there first, moving much faster than usual. He stomped right up to the Galran and leaned close. "Cut it out," he ordered, his voice low and ominous.

Tolvik sneered and attempted to shove him aside, but Hunk held his ground. Shiro knelt where he was, frozen as to whether to help Lance or Hunk first – or Keith, who suddenly drew himself erect and whipped his knife out of nowhere.

Then Pidge hurtled into view, a long strand of green light snapping from her bayard to wrap around the nearest druid. His long fingers spread as he attempted another spell, and she electrocuted him effortlessly.

Lance crawled towards his bayard, several yards away. Keith raised his knife and met the next druid's onslaught as Pidge sprinted towards Shiro. Hunk glanced Tolvik up and down, drew back his fist, and punched the general right in the face before the Galran could so much as blink.

Shiro nearly paused in surprise himself, but he threw himself into the fray as well as he could with his hands still bound. Pidge reached him and slashed her bayard through the cuffs. "Shiro, you okay?"

He gave a quick nod and shouted to the others, "Get Tolvik!"

The green bayard plunged into the ceiling, and Pidge pulled herself halfway to the ceiling before dropping onto a staggering Tolvik's shoulders.

That was definitely not what Shiro had in mind. He cast a worried look in Lance's direction, but Keith was already headed for the blue paladin, so Shiro joined the others. Pidge had wound her legs around Tolvik's neck and was squeezing with all her strength, her hands gripping his forehead for balance. Hunk, obviously not wanting to hurt her, had stopped face-punching the Galran and was instead grabbing for his clawed hands.

Shiro moved to attack, but jumped back when a blast of magic slammed into the ground at his feet. With a growl, he flicked his wrist, activating his prosthetic, and attacked the nearby druid.

In the meantime, Keith darted around, unsuccessfully trying to land a hit on his opponent while avoiding the enemy's attacks. Still a little dizzy from Tolvik's earlier attack, he tripped backwards over Lance, who yelped in protest.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," gasped Keith, diving forward to distract the druid – again – from Lance, who crawled forward and snagged his bayard with his fingertips.

The blue paladin rolled onto his back, half-propping himself against the nearest wall, and fired three shots. The druid paused as though in surprise, then crumpled to the floor.

"I don't like druids," Lance proclaimed to the world at large.

"Got it," gasped Keith. He ran to help Shiro with the last druid, and Lance climbed to his feet, then staggered off in Hunk's direction.

Pidge still had her short arms clasped around Tolvik's forehead, although she was growling with the effort of holding on as his huge hands pulled at her. Hunk drew back his bayard and slammed it into Tolvik's unprotected stomach.

Lance whooped as the huge Galra doubled over.

Pidge dove to the ground, and Lance steadied her as she landed. Hunk rammed his shoulder into the still-staggering Tolvik, and the Galran general fell with a grunt.

"Come on!" shouted Keith, waving the paladins toward the door. Shiro, having finally disposed of the last druid, fell into step between Lance and Hunk. He was running a little unsteadily, but as Tolvik's gasped curses followed them from the room, he shared a fully satisfied smirk with Lance.

As they reached the elevator, Keith called to Pidge, "Did you guys get your charges set?"

"No," said Shiro.

They piled into the elevator, and Pidge glanced up, looking unnecessarily pleased with herself. "Oh yes we did, Shiro. I set them while the droids were distracted by capturing you."

He grinned. "Good job, Pidge! As soon as we get back to our lions, we'll contact the castle."

"Uh, no," said Lance, pointing upwards. "Particle barrier, remember?"

"That's easy," scoffed Pidge. "Tell Allura to set off the explosives in the main control room. That'll shut down the barrier, then we can get out, then she can set off the charges in the quintessence room."

"Will that – work?" asked Keith, opening the elevator doors for what he hoped was the last time.

She shrugged. "It should."

"Okay, let's do it," said Shiro. "Come on, Pidge."

Keith and Lance looked at each other, and Lance stepped over to Shiro, clearing his throat delicately.  
"I'm coming with you guys this time," he said. Shiro tilted an eyebrow, and Lance said something about Keith's flying and being airsick. Keith frowned, but once again said nothing.

" _Hunk_ didn't get airsick," observed Shiro, but then he smiled. "All right, Lance, come along. You guys," he added to Hunk and Keith. "Keep your comms open."

Less then five doboshes later, Red and Green hovered side by side, just beneath the particle barrier. The comm beeped, and Coran appeared onscreen.

"Paladins, are you ready?"

"Are we ever?" replied Pidge.

The orange-mustached man leaned closer as he peered at some control or another. "Hmm . . . are you sure you're far enough from the blast zone?"

"No," said Shiro. "But we're as far away as we can be. We'll just – hope for the best." He sent a quick smile at the others. "Besides, we've flown through bigger explosions before."

Coran sighed almost wistfully. "True. I've done that a time or two myself." He brightened. "Well, good luck! Five, four, three, two, _one!_ "

The atmosphere vibrated; a huge plume of flame burst from the command center far below. The lions were buffeted about, and Green bumped into Red, nearly sending them both spiraling.

"Pidge!" snapped Keith.

"Sorry," she replied distractedly. "Just getting the data read-out . . . Okay, the barrier's down! Let's go!"  
The two lions swooped upward, back towards the ship, and Allura set off the second set of explosives. As they glanced down at the Galran base for the last time, the paladins could see nothing but a raging inferno from the burning quintessence.

"I almost feel bad for Tolvik," said Lance.

"Almost," agreed Keith.

"Paladins!" cried Allura. "A small Galran ship just left the atmosphere. One life form aboard."

"Okay, I don't feel bad for Tolvik anymore," said Lance. "Should we go after him or not?"

"No," said Shiro. "He'll be sure to have called for reinforcements. Someone like Tolvik will have hundreds of ships at his command."

"And we only have two lions," said Hunk. "Guess we'll catch him later."

"Yeah," said Pidge, as the lions neared the castle. "In the meantime, I hope you guys didn't place any bets on who would set the charges first, because I won."

"You did?" said Lance doubtfully. "We set ours pretty fast."

"I set mine faster."

"How do you know?"

"Because –" She stopped short. "Uh, because –"

"Let's compare notes later," said Shiro as they landed. "By the way, guys, great job with everything today."

Lance waved a dismissive hand. "No problem, Shiro. It was just another mission." 


End file.
